When, if ever, is involvement justified???
This is a loaded question, but one you will discover meaning to this unit. To answer this question, you must first consider a few things:
1. Who it is being involved--This could be on an individual basis, on a national basis, or even an international basis.
2. What involvement means--Does this include diplomacy, economic aid, an altercation, war?
3. What perspective justified is coming from--Is this justified from a youth's perspective, an American perspective, a minority perspective?
As we continue this semester embarking on some of America's greater conflicts--World War II, The Cold War, The Korean War, and Vietnam--Please consider this question to grow, learn, and formulate your own opinion about it. You may even then get to apply this opinion to current events and involvements.
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ReplyDeleteI think that involvement is justified depending on the situation. For example, when Haiti had their huge earthquake a couple years ago, we helped out with aid because they do not have as much as the United States does. So that would be a positive involvement. But say Japan was tiring to take control of China; like they tried to do in World War II. The United States does not need to step in because China is very much capable of controlling the situation. If China asked for our help, then that would be a different story. Needless to say, there's a time to step in and there's a time when the United States should just keep to themselves and worry about our issues. When we try to help the bigger countries, they feel as if we're stepping on their toes and that we're saying they aren't able to take care of their own problems. Which in fact is not at all what the United States is doing, but that's the way it is probably coming off as to these other countries.
ReplyDeleteWe only need to help the helpless?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think were justified for all the wars we have been in. I think that if it affects us in any dramatic form then we should be involved. But then the argument about country’s taking over USA can be solved. If we don’t get involved with other country’s and mind our own business and we always keep our military up to date, we can stand a chance.
ReplyDeleteYour answers are very vague. I am still not sure where you stand on the issues of our most recent and historical conflicts.
DeleteAmerican involvement is justified when our economy, government or people are threatened. It is also justified if another country is in need of aid but there are limits that many politicians seem not to know. The Vietnam War was one of those cases. We didn't have a plan, we joined a side that might as well have already lost, and our politicians apparently weren't very informed on Ho Chi Minh's form of government. The way I see it, Ho Chi Minh's form of communism was more democratic than Diem's form of democracy.
ReplyDeleteGood point about Vietnam! What about the other conflicts we have been in? or are currently in?
DeleteI dont think we are ever truly justified to be in foreign involvement. I believe that we should be as isolate as possible. However we are America and were not a bunch of sissies. I know if someone punched me I would indefinitely fight back. So in the case of WWII and Pearl harbor I think we were justified to go to war but only with japan. So going of that note the cold war Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Ukraine are all in-justified. With the expiation of Iraq because its the same case as WII with a significant attack on US soil.
ReplyDeleteI see your point--only get in war when we are literally attacked and lives are lost. How would America be different today if we had not gotten in all those other conflicts?
DeleteTo me justified means that we have reason to. So, I guess the only reason I think is good enough to get involved is if America or Americans are threatened. To me, I don't think we are justified or have reason to get involved in other countries business unless there business directly affects America. I'm not against helping a country in need, but I am against helping a country when we ourselves are the ones who need the primary care. Not that we are greater than another country, just that it's hard to help someone when you yourself isn't in the position to be helping.
ReplyDeleteGo into specifics here. Your answers are pretty vague. In what circumstances does another country's business not affect America? In an age of globalization, it is hard to say anything does not have an affect on America.
DeleteI think America’s involvement in World War II was justified, because if they had not done anything, Hitler probably would have won the war, which of course would not be good. Without the Lend-and-Lease and Cash-and-Carry policies more than $ 50.1 billion worth of supply, which were certainly useful, would have not been there for the Axis Powers and that would have been a big disadvantage. Also the U.S. sent about 40 million people in the war, helping out their allies immensely. The only thing that I don’t like about America’s involvement in World War II is the isolationism in the beginning. It didn’t work for World War I, so why should it work for the Second World War? I think that if America would have been involved sooner, then the whole war could have ended sooner, but over all I am glad that America did get involved.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the involvement in the Vietnam War was not justified. I understand that America wanted to contain Communism, but I honestly think that it is stupid to get involved in a war to change another nation’s government. Maybe the reason for the involvement was to help France at first, but once the French troops were gone, so should have the U.S. troops. I feel like there were enough sings to indicate that North Vietnam would win, no matter how much support South Vietnam would get. The Vietcong just had more will to fight, because they fought for what they believed in – American soldiers just did what they were told without any real reason to fight. The Vietnamese soldiers knew the terrain they were fighting in a lot better. They knew how to fight in it, they had the tunnels and they had the better strategy. Lastly America didn’t have the support they always had, which made everything just worse. America could have never won this war for South Vietnam and to get involved with it was unjustified from the beginning.
I am not sure about America’s involvement in the Cold War. For one I think the involvement was a bad idea, because America was the one to start the Cold War, so if they wouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place, it might have never started and the about $ 8 trillion spent only for military development would have been better spent somewhere else. On the other hand I do understand why they acted that way and why they got involved more and more. The threat of atomic bombs or even worse things was real after all. There were some bad decisions made, for example with the Bay of Pigs Invasion or the U-2 incident, but if no decisions would have been made, it could have ended pretty badly. So I think that it was not justified to get involved in the first place, but once America was involved in it, they did a more or less good job of defending themselves.
American involvement is often in a lot of ways justified and in a lot of ways not. It is really hard to decide on whether to get in a war or not when you can’t look in the future to see what would happen if you do this or that, but it is very important to think everything through before you get involved. Unfortunately, that has not always been done, as for example the Pentagon Papers show – if you don’t have plan out, you probably shouldn’t get involved in the first place. There will always be disagreement on the justification of American involvement, as well as there will be failure and success during American involvement. The only thing we can be sure of is that America, just as every other country, will always be somewhat involved and we can only hope that something good will come out of it.
Great thoughts! Thanks for sharing your point of view and being specific to each circumstance.
DeleteI think America's involvement is justified when our nation is at risk. In World War II, Pearl Harbor was attacked. Our involvement with the Japanese was justified then, since we had been attacked. But with Europe on the other hand, we had to get involved to protect trade and to uphold alliances. With the Atlantic Charter, if we were to enter the war (which we did when we declared war on Japan), we had to enter on the U.K's side. With that, we sent troops to Europe. But was it really our responsibility to go "save the day" in Europe? Its a difficult question to answer, because it helped to jump start our economy, and our involvement helped to maintain trade partners. In the end, involvement may not be justified, but I think it was overall worth it.
ReplyDeleteWith the cold war however, I don't really see the point. It is good to be number 1, but because of that competition we have hundreds of deadly nukes that we have nothing to do with. It isn't really our right to go to other countries and say "Hey, you are a democracy now." With Vietnam, we took this to combat. During the whole time of the war, the U.S. and S.V. didn't have more than half of the country. Thousands of American troops were killed, and, according to the Pentagon Papers, we didn't have a strategy to get our boys out. After we did pull out, Vietnam quickly fell to communism, along with Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. It was also the U.S's first loss. In the end on this one, I do not think it was worth the money, nor the lives, nor the time spent in the Jungle.
Nice job with these 2 conflicts. How do you feel about the others? Is America not at risk on a constant basis? According to your first statement, we should always be in a state of war. Is that what you meant to say?
DeleteI think we are justified to have been in WWII and Iraq. In both cases we were attacked and had the right to fight back because of the lost american lives. Do I think we were justified for all the other wars? Not really.. But with that being said if we had gotten involved we wouldn't be the same country. Take the Cold War, we wouldn't have the technology that we have today with out this war. I believe that we meant to be in all of these wars because in some way it shapes america and we learn and grow from each and every war.
ReplyDeleteGood points. Each of these have been important factors to our international positioning and reputation today--good or bad.
DeleteI think we were justified in WWII because we were attacked by Japan before this happened. I don’t think we were necessarily justified in the cold war because we were never attacked, but without it we would be different today. In the Vietnam war I think we were justified because we were trying to stop communism from spreading everywhere. In Iraq and Afghanistan I think we were because we got attacked in terrorism more than once. In Ukraine today we aren’t because that’s not our war to fight, but at the same time we want to make allies.
ReplyDeleteGood points. Why did you lump Iraq and Afghanistan together? We were never attacked by Iraq. We attacked them. Is it still justified?
DeleteAmerica was justified in World War II because we were attacked in our home. The Cold War we were justified because Democracy and our way of life was threatened, same as Vietnam, communism was a huge problem for many years. In Iraq and Afghanistan Terrorism affected the U.S. and we were attacked, so now we are fighting a war on terror. The conflict is Ukraine could very well escalate into a full scale war and the U.S. will, most likely get involved if the other world powers in Europe get pulled into it. And it would be justified, because it can threaten life on earth if it does become full scale war. So why wouldn't we get involved.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! You seem patriotic and in full support of military action based on your post! Thanks for putting your opinion out there.
DeleteThe U.S. should get involved when we have a ally in war they have officially asked for the U.S. to help them. This means we would should start out with minimal help like giving them weapons. Then with some economic help. The U.S. should hold off on sending troops to the country in need till the last possible time because war isn't the best thing in any case. I do not like to see people fighting and I don't like being in conflicts with others so I do not want my nation to be in one ether.
ReplyDeleteNice job. Our nations should be able to set examples for its citizens. Good point. Do you feel the same about all the conflicts we have been in or are there different circumstances for different scenarios?
DeleteAmerican involvement is only justified when we are defending those who can't protect themselves. In WW2 we were protecting our citizens. In Ukraine if we get involved we will be protecting a small country with a small military from a country with a better military. When we go into a war we can't just try to run everything on our side. We also have to be cautious to not take things to far.
ReplyDeleteI see. How about the other conflicts we have been in? Were those justified? Also, if we always help the helpless, aren't we going to run ourselves out of resources and support warring against the best and most powerful countries in the world?
DeleteWhen are we Justified
ReplyDelete•WWII – we were justified getting into WWII because we were bombed at Pearl Harbor. We had to defend ourselves
•Cold War – we were justified getting into the Cold War because since the Soviet Union was such a huge powerhouse in the world, them spreading communism was a greater threat than a smaller country. We also had to have our own weapons when we were threatened
•Vietnam – We were not justified in the Vietnam war because the spread of communism worldwide from Vietnam wasn’t that much of a threat. It was just a waste of money, lives, and resources
•Afghanistan/ Terror – We were justified in the war on terror because that is a threat that can do a lot of damage to everyone across the world. We were also attacked on 9-11
Good points. Thanks for spelling each conflict out and sharing your opinion.
DeleteIn my opinion, the only wars that the United States of America was actually, truly justified, were WWII, and Iraq. The only reason we were justified is because we were involved/ attacked. The attack on Pearl Harbor and on the Twin Towers made us to have way more justification than we needed. So in conclusion, America is only justified to enter the war, when we are involved or attacked first. Although America doesn’t need justification every single time, example is if we are allies with another country, we don’t have to send troops but we could just send economic aid or supplies.
ReplyDeleteNice points. You are very clear with your stance on this--thanks for sharing. My question is, would America be lacking something or be better off today if history had played out differently and we had NOT gotten involved in those other conflicts?
DeleteThe U.S. can truly justified if we were threatened, attacked, or if intel leaked of possible threats. WWII was justified because we had to retaliate against Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor. In this instance we had to do something because we were attacked on our own soil. The war in Iraq however was different. Saddam Hussein became one of the biggest targets during post 9/11. After various attacks against the U.S. and after killing tens of thousands of people we had to do something. After declaring war in Iraq, months past by but the manhunt continued. But on December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein was finally captured. In conclusion, we should only take action if we are threatened.
ReplyDeleteThat answer is pretty vague--only if America is threatened. Are we not threatened on a daily basis? Should we be in a constant state of war? I also think you may be confusing the War on Terror and the War in Iraq. Saddam Hussein did not directly attack America to my knowledge. So were we justified?
DeleteBecause I personally believe war is only justified when the United States, or the safety of our people, faces a threat or is attack I think most of these wars could've been avoided. The Pearl Harbor attack is what justifies our involvement in World War II. While we did need to keep Communism from spreading in the Cold War most of the cold war was an unnecessary waste of money, we were more concerned with being the best than stopping Communism, therefore I don't think the Cold War was justified. But Vietnam posed as smaller Communistic threat, I think Vietnam was a waste, we didn't help anyone or get anywhere through it we only went in and killed the people we were supposed to be helping (South Vietnamese). Iraq is not justified, Americas biggest problem is our belief that everyone needs what we have, in the case of Iraq I think we should've let them be. I think Afghanistan is justified because we were attack (threatened) by the 9/11 attacks. I think we should be leaving the Ukraine alone, both sides of nuclear bombs so it won't end well for anybody in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThanks for addressing each conflict and sharing your thoughts. You have some valid points!
Delete-WWII- I think that we were justified in getting into this one because it threatened American lives after the Pearl Harbor bombing but I don't think we should have gotten into it until that point
ReplyDelete-Cold War- I don't think that this war was justified because it was just an attempt to end Communism but was that worth costing American lives? Also, I think that there wasn't a need for this war at all, I think that we should have just talked it out and worked out the issues before having to get into a war between us and the SU.
-Vietnam- I strongly opposed to the US involvement in the war more than the others because we had no place to be in it. We helped France to help stop communism in Vietnam then we helped South Vietnam, because they were the underdog or why? I just don't understand because we didn't have a reason to be in it, and all it did in the end was cost us lives and money and a war loss for America.
-Iraq- I don't think we had a part in this one either because we were just trying to help them but I don't think that they ever asked for our help.
-Afghanistan- I think we were justified in this war because they threatened American lives with there attacks and acts of terror that killed hundreds of Americans.
-Ukraine- I think that we should just get out of this. This seems to be a conflict that doesn't need America butting their heads into their situation. I also think that, if it leads to a WW3, I don't want to be in any part of it.
Thanks for making your opinions clear. To play devil's advocate, how would America be different today had we followed your suggestions for involvement?
DeleteI believe that America was justified in entering World War II, because we needed to help our allies in war. We were also attacked by Japan at the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so we needed to defend ourselves. I do not believe that America was justified in entering the Cold War, because we had other problems to worry about in our own country.The Vietnam War was also not justified, because we really had no reason to interfere. Getting involved in this war caused us to lose many American lives and lose a lot of money. The war in Iraq is very similar. We had no reason to interfere. The war in Afghanistan was justified, because Americans were threatened. We needed to step in to defend ourselves and to prevent future terrorist attacks. The situation in Ukraine was not justified, because it really is none of our business. We should just let Ukraine do what it wants to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Basically, you think we are justified only when America is literally attacked and lives are lost. Question--how do you think America would be different if we had not gotten involved in those other conflicts?
DeleteWW2-I think that the U.S involvement in ww2 was justified but only after the bombing of pearl harbor before then we shouldn't have done anything except establish allies
ReplyDeleteCold war- i think we were justified after we figured out the the soviet union had missiles in Cuba but i do not think it was justified to put our missiles in Turkey.
Vietnam- i dont think that we were justified to enter a war just to stop the spread of communism because it was inevitable.After we left the war south vietnam fell to north vietnam and it became communist anyway.
Iraq and Afganistan-In iraq i do think we were justified to find Sadam Hisseiun and his weapons of mass destruction and we did but after that i think we should have ended the war. IN afganistan i think it was Because we were attacked first in 9/11 but after we killed Osama Bin Laden i think it should end.
Ukraine- the united states should not get involved unless the soviet union attacks more members of NATO.
Nice justifications for your opinions. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteWWII- i believe that we were justified in WWII. Imagine how our world would be today if Hitler over ran everything? The allies might not have won without our help.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I see it both ways when it comes to Cold War. I am more on the side that were justified because we didn't harm anyone but instead helped a lot of people. Would West Berlin starved without us, would the European countries have the stability that they have now without the Cold War, we wouldn't have a flag on the moon, and more.
Vietnam- I don't really know if we were justified in going to war in Vietnam but if four presidents thought that we were so obviously there was reason for us to be over there. I think it would be like any war that the US has entered but the media ruined it all.
Iraq & Afganistan- I do believe that we were justified in going to war. The fall of the twin towers says it all. If US didn't fight back we would appear weak.
Ukraine- I think that we are justified to help Ukraine out if they ask for it out WWIII breaks out.
Great points about Cold War and Vietnam. How about the War in Iraq? It was lumped in with Afghanistan and I did not get a clear opinion on that one.
DeleteWWII- I believe that America was justified to get into this war. When Pear Harbor happened, many American lives were threatened.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I see two sides into this conflict. I think we weren't justified because we spent such a large amount of money on the space race with Russia. I also believe that we were justified because,well, whose flag is on the moon? America's! "One small step for man and one giant leap for mankind" as Louis Armstrong said.
Vietnam- I believe that America wasn't justified in entering this war. The biggest reason we entered it was to contain communism. By the near end of the war, so many of our troops were dying that it communist wasn't worth fighting anymore. America was trying to help South Vietnam but it just wasn't any of their business.
Iraq and Afganistan- I believe we were justified in going to war. After what happened with the twin towers, so many American lives were gone.
Ukraine- I don't think we're justified in this war. It's none of our business to get involved.
Similar points as Taylor! What do you think about Iraq? They did not attack the twin towers. Were we justified in that war?
Delete-WWII- I think we were justified in entering this war because we were bombed at Pearl Harbor and the German Uboats even attacked some of our ships. We lost American lives from those.
ReplyDelete-Cold War- I don't think we were justified in entering this war because nothing really happened. We weren't attacked and no lives were lost. I know that America wouldn't be the same if it hadn't happened but we spent a lot of money and were just basically trying to "outdo" the Soviet Union. I think we could have handled it differently.
-Vietnam War- I also don't think we were justified in this war because it wasn't really our business. We weren't attacked or being threatened. I know we were trying to contain communism and help South Vietnam, but we lost a lot of soldiers and Vietnam and it's surrounding countries ended up being communist. We spent a lot of money and time in this war. We could have also handled this war differently.
-Iraq and Afghanistan- We were justified in fighting in these wars because we had been attacked, lost American lives, and were being threatened. The Twin Towers was the main thing that started it and we had to defend ourselves or they might attack again or other countries might see us as being weak and attack us too.
-Ukraine- I'm not sure if we are justified in this war because we aren't being attacked, but we use resources from Ukraine. Also, we still don't like communism and aren't fond of Russia. I think it's ok if we help Ukraine if they ask, but for now I think we should wait.
Thanks for sharing your opinions. What about the War in Iraq? You did not address that one. Iraq did not attack America, so were we justified in a war with them?
DeleteWWII - I believe that we were justified to start fighting as soon as Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Not only that, but we did have allies fighting in the war prior to the entry of the U.S.
ReplyDeleteCold War - Looking at the time before, i don't think it was a very good idea to get involved with the contending super power of the world. It scared most of Americans with the idea that nuclear missiles were pointed at us. But now that nothing of military action did happen, I like the outcome of the space race.
Vietnam War - At no point in this war should we have ever even thought about entering on either side. America did not have an ally involved after France was already run out, and we were not at risk either. So to fight a war on the poorer side of the battle, with our only point to stop communism, never really seemed worth it.
Iraq and Afghanistan - After what happened on 9/11, America was right starting the war on terror. Now, after the main leaders have been taken down and the enemy forces greatly reduced and learned there lesson, i'm not sure why we are still there.
Ukraine - About half of Ukraine is actually pro-russia. So while we are over here saying its not right to take it over, some of the people there actually want to be Russian. While that some do, some don't. It isn't okay how Russia is pretty much occupying Ukraine with its 20,000+ troops, with all of the United Nations looking down upon them. If The country as a whole does not want to be a part of Russia, and tries to get taken over, then I believe we should intervene.
What about Iraq? You did not address that one--they did not attack us, so were we justified in war with them? Also, in the Ukraine, you mentioned we should intervene. Do you think military intervention is necessary or another form of intervention first?
DeleteTo start, I'm not going to single out any incidents in which the justification is there or not. The United States is still an infant in the world. With this fact, we are just trying to learn how the world works, and we do this in the most controversial of ways. Many times, we attempt to join in on a war, or start one, just to see how the reactions could be. We also attempt to pass legislation on different foreign affairs to see what we could make out of that. This point in which I'm trying to make is that with these past incidents, as I'll call them, we grew wiser. Meaning, justifications at their time may not have been present, but later in the years we learn from our mistakes. However, we continue to declare wars on others that we don't understand, which sends us further into debt than the original attacks that happened on US territory.
ReplyDeleteNow, for present event Ukraine Invasion. Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine is a very interesting event indeed. Although the United Nations is keeping a close eye on Russia, they will still move under the radar. To use an argument against another student blogger, if America wishes to stay America, it will. We have an armed force large enough to keep the borders patrolled for a very long time. Even then, more civilians than you know own guns. America is the country of fighting back, hence why we're America and not another British/European colony. Yes, there are those that say that "Even without the Revolution, we'd still be America." I firmly slap them across their face to tell them that without the Revolution, we'd all have some form of accent, as we'd probably be a disputed territory, the UN may not exist, and half the world might even be German, or Japanese.
In conclusion, there are times in which America intervened off of a shot in the dark, and there are times in which America retaliated. All in all, there is no true justification for anything we've done, yet we learn from these "mistakes" even today.
Thanks for sharing your opinions. I see where you are coming from and you have some great points. However, I would like to respectfully refute your statement that America learns from its mistakes. I believe that many of our decisions are made hastily without weighing in to our history and what we can learn from it.
DeleteI think being justified to enter a war depends on the situation. If we have been threatened or the safety of our country is at stake, then we have every right to become involved in war. However, it might not result in the outcome we were hoping for, but at least we tried to defend our country. In WWII, Pearl Harbor was attacked and that threatened our country. Therefore, I think we were justified to become involved. Although I do not think that entering the Cold War and the Vietnam War was justified. In the Cold War, we just battled Russia in an ongoing competition to see who could make the bigger and better things first. It did result in major advancements in our technology, but there was also a ton of money wasted with weapons and other technology we haven't used. In the Vietnam War, we entered on a theory that if we didn't stop North Vietnam, then communism would spread. We spent endless money and wasted countless American lives to fight a war that just put us back where we started. Overall, I think to be justified in entering a war, you have to create an outcome with more positives then negatives.
ReplyDeleteI think you were pretty vague at first--when is America not threatened, and therefore, when should America be at peace? However, your last point was perfect! If only if we could see in hindsight as conflicts arise!
DeleteWorld War II- I believe our involvement was justified because pearl harbor was bombed, and american lives where threatened so we had a reason to fight back.
ReplyDeleteCold War- Our involvement in the cold war was completely unjustified. All we wanted to do was show the soviet union that we where bigger and badder then they where, everything they did we did bigger. This war in my opinion was a huge waist of money, we had just gotten out of a world war and instead of paying for all of its cost we decided to spend money on bombs we might not even use.
Vietnam war- I do not think we where justified. the only reason we joined was because one of our allies (France) was fighting and we where helping but after france was run out we had no business being there risking American Lives to fight for what? Communism not to spread? Many soldiers died and there was really no need.
Iraq, Afganistan- I think we where completely justified in starting the war on terror. Previous evens such as 9/11 made many people feel unsafe, that at anytime something could happen. So we started the war on terror to essentially protect Americans and make it so that they don't have to be afraid.
Ukraine- I dont know if we where justified, i don't know much about this war but i do know that we where not attacked and no lives where threatened, so from what i know i don't think we where justified
Thanks for sharing your opinions. What about the War in Iraq? You did not address that one--they did not attack America, so were we justified?
DeleteWWII - We were justified to get militarily involved in the war when Japan attacked and us helping our allies before that was justified because we want them to still be our allies.
ReplyDeleteCold War - Our involvement in the cold war was justified because it was mainly just between us and Russia. I don't think that the U.S. should have spent so much money on this war simply because we didn't use the weapons we were creating.
Vietnam - The U.S.'s involvement in the Vietnam war was not justified. I understand that we didn't really want communism to spread but we should trust that our government is strong enough to keep it from over taking our country.
Iraq/Afghanistan - Our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan is completely justified because of 9/11.
Ukraine - I don't think the U.S. getting involved in Ukraine is justified because it's not our problem even though it may affect us in some ways. We shouldn't get involved in Ukraine because we are already involved in many other countries right now.
What is your opinion about Iraq? You did not address it specifically--they did not attack America, so were we justified? Also, does the conflict in the Ukraine not affect us? In a world with such globalization, it is hard to say that a conflict like that in the Ukraine does not affect us in some way.
DeleteWWII; I'm not so sure about WWII, but I do think we needed to do something, after the attack from the Japanese. Our involvement was probably necessary, but we didn't need to go all-out with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I know it was important to end the war quickly, but the bombs caused too much harm on innocent humans in Japan. Especially Nagasaki - one bomb is enough!
ReplyDeleteCold War; This was not so much a war but a really long standoff that lead to other things. Participating in the Korean War didn't get much accomplished. We did need to prepare for war against SU, but not so heavily. I don't really believe in nuclear missiles/war... we could have used the time and money spent developing bombs working on other programs.
Vietnam War; I don't really think we were justified. We were trying too hard to "contain communism," and ended up jumping into the longest, most unsuccessful war we have ever participated in. We should have just let this one play itself out. It created a lot of problems within our country.
The War on Terrorism; I think we should have pulled out faster than we did. Yes, 9/11 was traumatic and needed immediate action, but we will always be threatened, so once we weren't in any serious danger, we could've cut back. Terrorism is something we will be fighting for a long time; it's not something you can really "beat" or "win." There will always be others coming along.
Ukraine; we don't need to get involved yet. I think we need to wait it out and see what happens, now that Crimea is officially a part of Russia. We have already passed sanctions, but I don't think we should do anything more. I don't know what's going to happen next, but we shouldn't jump in right away. It could turn out a lot like Vietnam if we aren't careful.
Nice points. You seem to side along with what most pacifists would say. What about Iraq? You did not address that conflict specifically.
DeleteWhen are we justified?
ReplyDeleteNicholas Gresham
2B
-WWII
-Cold War
-Vietnam War
-Iraq
-Afghanistan
-Ukraine
WWII
I do believe we were justified in World War II. We were unexpectedly attacked by Japan and countries in Europe were breaking the United Nations rules. Also, genocide was being committed over in Europe.
Cold War
I do not think we were justified in this because we wasted tons of money. We spent money competing with Russia to see who has the biggest atomic weapons and none of them were used by either nation. We were trying to show that we were the dominant country, when I think we already proved it. The only thing really worth the money we spent during this was NASA.
Vietnam War
I do not think we were justified in joining the Vietnam War. We stuck our nose in other peoples business that we didn’t need to. We went over there to stop the spread of communism to the Southern half of Vietnam. We wasted money and American lives on something we didn’t need to. Instead of worrying about our own problems we were worrying about other peoples problems. If we keep helping countries with everything, they wont know how to run things on their own.
Iraq
We were justified in this to a certain extent. They attacked us very unexpectedly and in places that hurt us mentally, economically, and socially. We were looking for the leader’s responsible for this. We started tracking Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden. After we assassinated Hussein we stuck around in Iraq and started running everything for them. We still have troops over there today just showing them how to run things. We need to let other countries learn on their own.
Afghanistan
I believe we were justified to a certain extent for this as well. We were running around tracking Bin Laden down and major terrorist groups. After assassinating Bin Laden in Pakistan we went back to Afghanistan to wipe out high factions of terrorist groups. We dragged this out way longer than it should have, because we still have troops over there today. I know a couple of people who have been over there recently and they say there weren’t a whole lot of things happening.
Ukraine
I don’t really think we are justified in getting involved in this. I’m not saying we shouldn’t keep an eye out for Russia, but we shouldn’t get involve, at least not yet. Russia at the moment is just trying to take control over Ukraine, which was a part of their territory for the longest time. There is rebellions and trenches in Ukraine right now. I don’t even think they know what they are doing. It is just something we should keep an eye out on, but not just jump in there like we usually do.
Good points. Thanks for sharing. I think you got the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan mixed up. Iraq never attacked the US. Were we justified in war with them?
DeleteWWll- I think we were justified in this war because we got attacked by Japan before we had military entered the war.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I don't think we were justified to get involved in this because we wasted a lot of money on nuclear bombs that we don't use.
Vietnam- I do not think we were justified to join this war because the communist government was a better form of government for Vietnam than the democratic government because that government was corrupt.
Iraq- I think we were justified to get involved in this war because there were people there who wanted to harm American and our government is supposed to stop that.
Afghanistan- I think we were justified to kill Osama Bin Laden and try to find the people who were involved in 9/11. But I think it is going to be a waste of time to fight terrorism because it's like when America was fighting communism. You can't fight something that you can't see.
Ukraine- I don't think we need to be involved right now in this situation, because we need to just let them take care of this and if Russia starts to take over more countries, then America should go take care of the situation.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on these. I think you may have been confused about the War in Iraq. Did they really harm the US? Were we justified in bombing them? Also interesting point about Vietnam!
DeleteIn my opinion, I think involvement means we are putting America in a situation that has been justified. I believe justifies means to declare or make a decision.
ReplyDeleteWWII-I believe we were justified to enter the war when american lives were taken by the attack on Pearl Harbor. We should never be losing american lives without taking a stand against it.
Cold War-I don't think we fully thought through. I understand there were nuclear bombs aimed at us and Stalin broke his promises but it was a waste of money to continue making all of these bombs that were never used and putting us deeper into debt.
Vietnam War-I feel like this war was really pointless and there was no justification on it other than the though or communism, which in the end overruled south Vietnam. We lost so many men and we really never should have involved the draft. it up roared many more problems than needed.
Iraq and Afganistan-I believe we are justified fighting these wars after being threatened and the attack on the twin towers. We lost american lives.
Ukraine-I think it is best if we stay out of the Ukraine because half of it is already pro-russia. They aren't really a huge trade partner nor a huge country.
What do you think about the War in Iraq? You did not address that one specifically. Iraq did not attack America--are we still justified in war with them? Also, How could America be different today if we had taken your advice on all of these issues?
DeleteWWII- I think America was justified in World War II because we were bombed by Japan, but also because Hitler needed to be overthrown and things in Europe needed to be settled down.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I don’t think that America was justified in the Cold War because it was basically a war to see who’s better than who, and it used up a lot of money, however if we hadn’t of participated in the Cold War, America wouldn’t be the same America it is today (NASA, one of the most powerful countries, etc.).
Vietnam War- I don’t think that America was justified in the Vietnam War because it was basically a war over communism, and you can’t really stop an idea from spreading (if it is going to spread, it’s going to spread), and we should have withdrawn a lot sooner, and just accepted that we were going to lose.
Afghanistan- America was justified in the war in Afghanistan because we were being attacked by terrorists.
Iraq- America’s involvement in Iraq was in part justified because we were attacked by terrorists, but I think it was also a war over oil, and I don’t see why we felt the need to cause needless death on both sides for oil.
Ukraine- I think we need to wait to see what’s going to happen with the Ukraine situation, because as of right now I don’t think we should get involved. However, if it turns into a WWIII situation, then we might be justified in getting involved, depending on that situation.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! About Vietnam--do you really believe that if communism is going to spread, it is going to spread? If that were the case, wouldn't communism be more prevalent today? Also, Iraq never attacked America. Do you still think we are justified in war with them? I think you may have mistaken that conflict for the War on Terror.
DeleteI think we are justified when one of our allies need aid or if America is threatened or attacked.
ReplyDeleteWWII- I think America was justified in WWII not only because of Pearl Harbor, but because Hitler needed to be stopped.
Cold War- I think we were justified because it proved that America was big and bad and without the Cold War we wouldn't be seen as a powerful country.
Vietnam War- I think we were not justified, it was a war over communism and I think we should of stayed out of it, it wasted a lot of money and killed many.
Afganistan- We were justified, we were attacked.
Iraq- I feel like we weren't because it was over their oil.
Ukraine- No, not justified, we need to mind our own business until something happens to us.
Good points! Thanks for sharing. Was the War in Iraq over just oil? Do some research on it and let me know if you think we were justified. Lastly, at what point do we consider something happening to us? Do the events in the Ukraine not affect America?
DeleteI think occasionally war is justified, but very rarely. We should always attempt to meet peacefully before resorting to war. It can be justified though in order to protect our country and our allies.
ReplyDeleteWWII: I do think it was necessary for America to fight in WWII simply due to the immense power and threat of Hitler and the Third Reich. He was murdering innocent people without a valid reason. If America hadn't of stepped in, he could have slaughtered all of Europe.
Cold War: I believe we should have tried to work things out peacefully before entering the Cold War, and I think that could have happened since the Cold War wasn't as much of an actual war as it was a competition. Though, since it didn't take as many lives, it wasn't a horrible decision to enter. It did help America get ahead scientifically, not necessarily ahead of the Soviet Union, but farther ahead with ourselves than we were before. A major problem, in my opinion, resulting from that was the damage we did to our planet by testing mass quantities of bombs.
Vietnam: I don't think the Vietnam War should have been fought at all. We went into this war simply because we disagreed with the form of government they were adopting. We're capitalists. They're communists. They have a right to what they believe and what they want to do with their own country, we didn't need to try to interfere with that. All it was were differing opinions, a simple disagreement. No reason for so much bloodshed and money wasted. Learning about the horrific guerrilla warfare and suffering endured by everyone is enough to make me positive in believing America was wrong to go to war with Vietnam.
Iraq, Afganistan, and Ukraine: I don't know as much about these wars, which is kind of ironic since they're the most recent when I've been alive. Again, though I believe that America should save lives and save money by not interfering with the relationships between other countries unless we have reason to. I think we did have reason to enter the War on Terrorism since we were directly threatened. I believe it is good that we have fought back against that and are punishing the threat. Though, I believe we should have pulled out sooner. As far as everything with Ukraine goes, I think it's far too early to get involved. I don't think we should plan on getting involved as soon as we hear of a conflict, we should only get involved if we absolutely have to. It hasn't directly effected us very much so far, so we should wait to gather more information and have more time to think deeply about the consequences or successes of our potential actions.
Thanks for sharing your opinions. Great points were made! I would love for you to do some research on the most recent conflicts. It is important to know what is going on in the world!
DeleteWWII - I think we were justified because of all the world wide casualties and also because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
ReplyDeleteCold War - I think we were justified to enter the cold war, because we were being threatened and we needed to defend our title as most powerful nation, however I don't think the amount of money we spent during the Cold War is justifiable.
Vietnam - I don't think we were justified to enter the Vietnam War, because I think the fear of communism was irrational and blown out of proportion. Vietnam made the US lose money, support, and respect.
Iraq - Definitely justified because of 9/11.
Afghanistan/terror - I think the War on terror is justified because we are tracking down and eliminating terrorist groups.
Ukraine - I don't think involvement in Ukraine isn't justified, at least at this point, because it is too risky and dangerous. There's no reason to get involved, because it is between Russia and the Ukraine.
Thanks for spelling out your thoughts! I think you may have mixed up the War in Iraq with the War on Terror. Iraq did not ever attack America--so were we still justified?
DeleteWWII- At first i think we were not justified but once they attacked Pearl Harbor that is when we were justified to start a war.
ReplyDeleteCold War- With the cold war the building of atomic bombs was justified to show that we had the power to build and use these bombs if anyone threatens us or attacks our home. NASA was just a who can get to space and then to the moon first.
Vietnam War- I think sending money to help France should have been everything that we could have done. Sending troops to attack and losing so many lives shouldn't have happened.
Iraq- We had every reason to attack them once they came to our land and bombed our twin towers.
Afghanistan-I think we were justified to start a war because of Iraq and how people in other countries thought it was ok to attack us.
Ukraine- I think we should stay out of Ukraine because Russia could get involved which would make matters worse. We are in too much debt to start another war.
Good points. However, I think you may have mixed up the War in Iraq with the War on Terror. Iraq never attacked America. Do you think we were still justified in war with them? Do some research on it!
DeleteI think to be justified for a war depends on the situation. I don't think you should start a war unless you are threatened or get attacked. For WWII we were justified once Pearl Harbor was attacked since it put our people in harm and danger. Events leading up to the Pearl Harbor bombing added to us being justified. With the Cold War, even though there wasn't a war with battles, we were justified because we wanted to show the world that we had power too with bomb. Having bomb threats toward the U.S. also added to being justified. The Vietnam war was justified because we wanted to stop Communism from spreading farther. Iraq was justified because they came and attacked our land so we have all the rights to attack back and defend ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI think your answer if pretty vague. When is America not being threatened? Should we constantly be in a state of war? Thanks for sharing your opinions though. I think you have some good ones. One thing about Iraq--I think you are mistaking it for the War on Terror. Iraq never attacked America. Do you think we were still justified in war with them?
DeleteWWII - I think we were justified when Japan bombed us.
ReplyDeleteCold War - I don't think we were justified because it was a big waste of money and it was pretty much just a race to see which country was better. Most of the money wasted went toward bombs that we wasted. However if we didn't participate in the cold war we wouldn't have things that we have today, like NASA.
Vietnam War - I don't think we were justified in this war because it was just to contain communism and communism wasn't that much of a problem for us for the majority of this war. Plus we just got in the middle of a civil war.
Afghanistan - We are justified because we were attacked by terrorists, 9/11.
Iraq - I don't fell like it was justified because it was over oil and we could get oil from other countries but it would be more expensive.
Ukraine - If we got involved right now I don't think it would be justified. But depending on what Russia is going to do it might be justifiable latter on.
Thanks! Sorry I skipped this earlier.
DeleteIt is necessary/justified for us to join the war if it is affecting us tremendously, if we are truly being affected. If our economy / economics is being affected as well, which could affect our well-being in a society. That is when we are justified to "join" the war
ReplyDeleteI feel like your answer is very vague. I believe that America is constantly being threatened. We are also constantly involved in other country's economics and affairs. Does that mean that we should constantly be in a state of war? How about the most recent specific conflicts? Do you think a blanket statement works for that or do you have different opinions based on the different scenarios?
DeleteIts only justified for the USA to get involved in a non-american conflict if the safety of the american government or lives are being threaten or in danger. We have a right to stop a problem before it can become a problem.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for something more specific. This answer is pretty vague, but thanks for sharing your broad opinion.
DeleteAll the wars we have took part in our justified to America it may not be to some of us but at the end of the day its all about what the govt. wants. Win or lose we learn things from every war and get good things out of them in some way, even if its just a lesson learned. Even if we lost Vietnam we still learned from it and all the other ones being victorious makes it justified in their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for a more specific answer on all the conflicts listed in class. However, your answer has some good points.
DeleteI believe American involvement is justified if our National Security is threatened in a way that could be detrimental to America.
ReplyDeleteThis is just the easy answer that everyone says. However, your answer is so loaded! Are we not threatened every single day? Please be more specific.
DeleteI believe that America is justified to be involved in war, only when it effects us as Americans, or can risk our safety. I think it may be pointless if America was to be involved in a war that we are not involved if it would not benefit us or could potentially put us in even more danger.
ReplyDeleteThis is an easy answer to give--but are we not involved in other countries' conflicts? Please be more specific.
Deletei believe America is only justified when we actually get attacked not necessarily if we just get threatened but if we really get attacked by another country. and i don't think we are justified to get into non-American conflict even if it is one of our allies, we shouldn't get involved unless we actually get attacked.
ReplyDeleteWhat do we gain from having allies? Do you think we would lose them if we never went to bat for them? Be more specific in your answer about the conflicts listed in class.
DeleteWWII- America wanted to stay out of the war (Neutrality Act) but entered because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I believe that it was justified because of the surprise attack.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I think America was justified because Russia had nukes pointed at America so America pointed bigger nukes back at Russia.
Vietnam- I dont think America was justified for the Vietnam War because it was not America's battle to fight, America joined to stop the spread of communism and risked the lives of American soldiers for something America doesn't really care about today.
Iraq- I don't think it was justified yet for America to invade Iraq when they did, because it was just an assumption that Iraq had WMD. America & UN had no proof. After searching, no weapons were found.
Afghanistan- i think it was justified to go to war with Afghanistan because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ukraine- I don't think it is justified for America to get involved because America is not in danger.
Thanks for your opinions! These are good points.
DeleteAmerica is justified in being involved only when the outcome could result in the U.S loosing it's position of being on top. i think maintaining the image of America being poweful is just as important as our military strength. many wars and attacks can be avoided if people are scared of you. That is one of the reasons why i believe the cold war was justified. America was leading in space activity and nuclear activity. the vietnam war wasn't justified. i believe we only entered it because we haven't really experienced loosing a war. but after the vietnam war, america's eyes were opened. WWII was justified because it had to do with the world. And U.S is not the only country in the world. One useless issue would be ukraine. one small land shouldn't be causing such a big issue. it was once a part of russia, so it's not really a big change.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your opinions! You have some valid points. I would love to see a bit of proofreading on your posts though!
DeleteI believe we are justified when when someone is in great harm and has no other options but us. I don't think that war solves anything but it seems that since the beginning of time war is the only option that countries have used to try and resolve problems. We have learned a lesson from every war we have ever been involved in although we may not have taken advantage of the things we have learned and kept those things in mind in later wars. In WWII I believe we were justified due to the attack on Pearl Harbor, we were attacked and saw that it was necessary to take action. I feel that although we lost a lot of money in the Cold War we were justified, America would not be who we are in the world or who we are as a country if we had not been involved in the Cold War. I don't feel that it was necessary to stay in Vietnam for so long and definitely wasn't worth loosing so many American lives over. When you say being justified in a war that doesn't necessarily mean justified to send troops it could mean helping send over money, supplies, or helping transport other troops in. In the war in Afghanistan and Iraq were/are over terrorism. I honestly think that there is any way to fight terrorism and it is completely pointless to try and fight it. You loose more lives trying to fight it in a war than you loose with the terrorist attacks.
ReplyDeleteNice points. I like the one about fighting terrorism with losing more lives. Good post!
DeleteI think america is justified only when something bad happens to the american people. Like in WWII, When we were attacked by Japan known as Pearl Harbor. That was a time when we were justified in a war. In Vietnam i dont think we were justified because we had no reason to get mixed into that war. Even though we didn't like communism. There was no other reason to get involved and it caused lots of american soldiers die.
ReplyDeleteGood points. How about the other conflicts listed in class?
DeleteThe involvement of american troops in any type of war is justified if, and only if the American home front is directly impacted by our enemies. Wars such as WWII, the cold war and the Afghanistan war all fall into this category as all of them had consisted of attacks of American soil. Just because we are not justified to go to war doesn't mean that we are not allowed to aid allied countries. This should have been the case in the Vietnam war, Iraq war and The Ukraine conflict that is present now.
ReplyDeleteSo are you saying we are justified in all of the conflicts?
DeleteWWII- i believe that before the attack on Pearl Harbor the United stated was not justified, but as soon as japan attacked Hawaii then we were.
ReplyDeleteCold War- I'm in between on weather or not America was justified in the cold war. I think it was justified so that we were saw as a powerful country and taken seriously but then again i think that it should have been tried to be settled peacefully and talked out.
Vietnam- i think that America wasn't justified on entering the Vietnam War. If they believe in communism, let them. i don't think we should have the right to take away what they believe.
Iraq and Afghanistan - before 9/11 no, I think We shouldn't have been involved but i think that the actual war started after 9/11 so then yes. They also might have not attacked if we didn't bomb them.
Ukraine-I don’t really know anything about the war, but from what ive heard and from reading other peoples posts to get some insight on it, I don’t think we are justified. They arnt threating our lives, as far as I know, so I don’t think we should be in it.
Nice, strong points in your post. Please proofread though before posting to a public site!
DeleteThere are many reasons why America is justified to get involved in a war, but it manly just depends on the situation. Not every conflict is the same, and who we're up against could change the whole outcome of how we respond to the situation. For example:
ReplyDeleteWorld War II: In World War II we had multiple reasons to enter this war. For one, whenever an ally of ours is involved in a war, we automatically enter as well. France and Great Britain have helped us in more ways than one over the course of three hundred years. If we just decide not to help them, it could hurt us in the future as well. So America technically entered the war by selling firearms to our allies and our enemy as well. Also, since we were attacked by Japan, we are justified to enter the war to defend our own country. If we just decided not the fight back, America could literally be in pieces by refusing to fight. We'd just continue to be bombed by Japan, and maybe other countries as well if they realized we weren't going to fight.
The Cold War: We were justified to enter this war by being threatened by the Soviet Union. I honestly didn't think that the space race was very important to the war and we could've avoided spending millions of dollars just to say we put a man on space. However, it was justified when the Soviet Union began to threaten us with nuclear bombs. We have every right to defend ourselves if our country is in danger, and we were certainly being threatened. Soviet Union and America were tied at that point for being the most power country in the world,
Vietnam: I do not think America was justified to enter this particular war. The main reason the United States became involved was to stop communism from spreading from country to country. Although we had good intentions, this was not a war we were sure to win. It’s possible to stop a force, but not an idea. Communism would always be flowing through people’s heads and it couldn’t be easily erased. We may solve the problem at first but communism could always come back and spread when the U.S. military was gone. This was the first war America lost with communism.
Iraq: America I don’t think was justified when they entered this war. Iraq was heard to have a large possession of weapons of mass destruction that could possibly be used on the United States. This war would have been justified if we had evidence that they in fact did have these weapons. After an investigation led by the Iraq Survey Group, they concluded that Iraq had ended its nuclear program in 1991. This was a war that could have been avoided if we had further investigated the issue.
Afghanistan: America was justified to enter this war. After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001 America made the right choice to step in. Terrorists had in fact hijacked several planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and had also targeted Washington D.C. Almost three thousand people were killed during these attacks including about three hundred firefighters. This was justified because it greatly damaged America, as we know it.
Ukraine: America I don’t think is justified to enter this war. Although it is tragic that nuclear weapons are being used on citizens, it does not affect America. Bad things happen every day in millions of cities, but we can’t help everyone. When America is being affected by this war, then we are allowed to enter. We may be one of the most powerful countries at this time, but that doesn’t mean we have to prove to everyone that we can solve every little problem.
Great effort with your post here! Thanks for being so thoughtful. I would like for you to look a little more into the Ukraine situation to clear some things up, but you did a great job here.
DeleteI think we are justified only when America is attacked first and lots of lives are lost other than that no.
ReplyDeleteWWII- I think we are justified due to the fact that we remained neutral until Pearl Harbor happened and secondly due to the high number of lives lost during the war.
Cold War- Personally, this was a HUGE waste of time and money by both Russia and USA. We were being threatened but nothing did happen. I'll go with the famous quote on this one "You're a lot of talk, but you won't show it." And by this I mean there was no point in spending so much money on something that no action is being taken.
Vietnam- Is not justifiable because Vietnam didn't do anything to us, secondly we should never get involved with other countries problems. At the time the USA feared communism, but why? It's not like communism is going to end one day. I don't know how the presidents at that time not understand that. It was a waste of time, money, and lives. Vietnam is still communist today.
Iraq- justifiable because of 9/11 and all the amount of lives that were lost on that day.
Afghanistan- No because we are getting involved with issues that don't have to deal with the nation. Sure we are capturing terrorist but we wouldn't show be going into other nations without their approval just because we are trying to capture a terrorist when we have plenty to find in our own country. Its a waste of time and money.
Ukraine- No it's not justifiable, it's not an issue we need to worry about. That's another countries problem not ours.
I like your first statement--it kind of says it all. However, why does it have to be a lot of lives? Is that inhumane to say? Also, how would American perspective be in the world if we never aided our allies or other countries in need? Doe s that matter?
DeleteComing from a minorities perspective, they did not think America was ever justified. For an example. Vietnam war. America got involved because they thought that South America shouldn't be communist like North Vietnam was. Because communism was so "bad". America spent billions of dollars on this war only to lose. South Vietnam never asked for there help or looked as if they needed their help. America came in and started bombing things and caused it to go on way longer than it was anticipated. Americas involvement never once helped out South Vietnam, it probably made it worse for them. So therefor it was never justified.
ReplyDeleteWhen is US involvement justified?
ReplyDeleteWWII- This was justified because many events happened that made it impossible for the US to avoid conflict any longer. While defending our own citizens, we also defended humanity against cruel leaders such as Hitler.
Cold War- I don’t believe this was necessarily justified because there was no serious threat until the US heightened involvement. Communism was a big issue, but America may have gone too far. The risks weren’t worth it and so much money was wasted. Many of the people overtaken by Communism agreed with it, so it wasn’t our duty to interfere.
Vietnam War- This was not justified because the problem didn’t directly affect us. This war is a very sore subject for America to this day. We lost a lot of lives and our soldiers witnessed abundant brutality.
Iraq- I definitely believe this was justified because we defended ourselves against terrorism, which was a major threat to our nation following tragedy such as 9/11. America determined a specific mission and defended its dignity.
Afghanistan- This is also justified, for reasons similar to Iraq. Certain leaders must be removed from power, in order to assure the safety of Americans, and a general protection of humanity.
Ukraine- I don’t believe this is justified because President Obama is leading Americans into a dangerous situation. We are not threatened by the events occurring with Russia, Crimea, and Ukraine. Considering many people are actually happy with Putin’s control of the region, I think Obama is acting in accordance with his own opinion, and avoiding what’s best for the American people, who can’t handle this unnecessary conflict right now.